1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a cooking vessel, such as a deep fat fryer. In particular, the present invention is directed to a tray carrier for a deep fat fryer.
2. Description of Related Art
A large capacity cooking apparatus or deep fat fryer may comprise a vat or cooking vessel of a sufficient size to receive a product tray carrier, in which a food product to be cooked is held. The carrier is submersed in a cooking substance, such as melted shortening or cooking oil, which is contained in the cooking vessel. The cooking vessel may be closed by a lid which makes a seal with an upper edge of the cooking vessel.
An example of a suitable deep fat fryer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,408, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. Referring to FIG. 1, fryer 100 is provided with a generally rectangular housing 102 having upper surface 104, housing 102 enclosing rectangular cooking vat 106, the open top 108 of which projects upwardly above upper surface 104 of housing 102. The top 108 of vat 106 is adapted to be closed by lid 110.
At its forward end, lid 110 mounts bail-shaped handle 112 by means of which lid 110 may be raised and lowered vertically relative to vat 106. In the alternative, handle 112 may be used to pivot lid 110 to a vertical position for cleaning purposes.
On its under surface, lid 110 is provided with hangers 114 adapted to detachably receive carrier 116, which has longitudinally extending support rods 118 lying at vertically spaced-apart intervals. Support rods 118 are positioned to receive the flanged side edges 120 of product trays 122. With this arrangement, the product trays 122 may be readily inserted in carrier 116 and seated on support rods 118 from the front of fryer 100.
In normal use, each of product trays 122 is filled with the food product to be cooked and then inserted into carrier 116. Product trays 122 may be of the same size normally used in a holding product or display cabinet. This allows product trays 122 to be transferred directly from fryer 100 to the cabinet without moving or disturbing the cooked food product. Carrier 116 may be readily removed from lid 110 for cleaning or other purposes.
Other known deep fat fryers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,712, U.S. Design Pat. No. 336,007, and U.S. Design Pat. No. 351,966, all of which are incorporated by reference in their entireties.
Alternatively, a large capacity cooking apparatus may be of an open-well design. In such an open-well cooking apparatus, the lid of the cooking apparatus may be an open frame, permitting direct access to the cooking vessel and to the food products submersed therein. The frame may support a carrier as described above.
Regardless of the type of cooking apparatus it is used in, the carrier serves an important purpose. As discussed above, the carrier holds filled product trays, and is lowered into the cooking substance. Known carriers, shown in FIG. 1, typically have rails, slots, or rods for receiving the product trays on two opposing sides of the carrier. To place a product tray in the carrier, the operator approaches the carrier from the front, aligns the product tray with its respective slot in the carrier, and slides or places the product tray into the carrier.
Although this appears to be a simple process, it has several drawbacks. First, the act of aligning the product tray with the carrier may create a traffic flow obstruction in front of the fryer. This is because the operator is required to approach the carrier from its front in order to properly align the product tray with the carrier. As cooking environments become more compact, and there is less space in front of a fryer, this could cause disruption in personnel traffic, possibly resulting in safety hazards. Further, loaded product trays may be heavy, both with cooked and uncooked food product. This makes it more difficult to properly align the product tray with the carrier, and may therefore require repeated, time-consuming attempts. Finally, when a product tray is removed from the carrier, cooking substance and other debris may momentarily drip onto the floor, which may create a safety hazard to employees.